Editorial: Romney the leader America needs to create more jobs

Certainly older readers are familiar with Mitt Romney’s Michigan background, and there has been an attempt to inform younger people here of his history during Romney’s two bids for the presidency.

Born in Detroit and reared in Oakland County, he is the son of George Romney, a popular Michigan governor during the 1960s for whom a building is named in Lansing.

So although he transplanted to Massachusetts where he served as an effective governor in a bipartisan setting, Mitt Romney is somewhat of a native son. If he wins, he would be the first president born in Michigan.

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That alone, of course, is not enough to justify support of his candidacy, but it might evoke enough pride among Michiganians to warrant considering his arguments. Since the country is not flourishing under the current president, Romney at least deserves that.

This election has been cast as a watershed choice over the size and role of the government. Romney and President Obama, we are told — in fact, they tell us themselves — have two starkly different visions for the United States.

If that is indeed the case, it should be an easy choice. Those who favor less reliance on government would support Romney while those preferring a more activist approach would vote for Obama.

In politics, however, things are never quite that simple. There is, in fact, lots of agreement over such core government programs as unemployment and veterans benefits, college loans, Social Security and Medicare.

Instead of ideology, an argument about who would best serve the nation could be made on the basis of simple competence. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward, hardly a spokesman for conservatism, has shared remarkable insights in his two books on the Obama presidency. In “Obama’s Wars” and now “The Price of Politics,” Woodward offers detailed and largely undisputed accounts of the president’s leadership.

The picture that emerges is less than inspiring. “Obama’s Wars” depicts an administration riven with division over policies in Iraq and Afghanistan, perhaps overly focused on political ramifications and not a little bit of cynicism in explaining policies to the public.

“The Price of Politics” reveals the president’s strategic and leadership blunders during last year’s debt-ceiling negotiations.

Now we have reports that security requests from our embassy in Libya were denied by the administration prior to the killing of our ambassador and three other Americans there last month.

Actually, the situation facing the American electorate resembles that of Michigan’s in 2010. Desperate for economic recovery and an end to budget disputes in Lansing, the state turned to businessman Rick Snyder, overwhelmingly electing him governor in his first try for public office. The actions he and the Legislature took may have been severe, but there are definite signs of life in the state’s job outlook.

Nationally, the one thing that is needed above anything else is job creation. Yet, the president’s economic proposal is to raise taxes on the job-creating class. Why ever would you raise taxes on anyone when real unemployment is around 15 percent? That defies all economic theories.

Let’s face it: Romney is more of a businessman than a politician. You can resent his wealth all you want, but he has a proven record as a turnaround artist.

Job creation will reduce the number of Americans on welfare, food stamps and unemployment, meanwhile producing revenue for the government to use to reduce deficits and debt.

Mitt Romney certainly appears to be the leader America needs at this particular time in history.